Day 31 - Stockton Beach Erosion
It was a great day for a walk so I followed the parks beside the beach north and came back along the foreshore to the North Channel of the Hunter River - a five kilometre round trip. The whole beach has been fenced for safety but several people had gone surfing, fishing or metal detecting. The council has placed rocks and huge sandbags at the most severely eroded sections of Stockton Beach. In some places the sand cliffs are more than 10m high.
Heavy equipment is used to fill very large sandbags. Ironically the worst erosion is next to new road construction creating parking spaces.
Erosion of Stockton Beach is not a recent phenomenon with some experts pointing to structures such as the breakwater walls changing the way waves and sand move.
From 1885 to 1908 coal was mined at Stockton in tunnels under the ocean and low lying land. There are two sandstone and marble memorials near the park dedicated to six men who died in 1896 at a furnance, and five men who died attempting to rescue their colleagues. Relics from the mine exposed during severe weather events have been used to calculate the extent of beach erosion.
Housing facing Stockton Beach is a mix of old cottages and new two storey buildings. A road separates the homes from the beach but their owners will be concerned by the extent of this recent erosion.
On the river foreshore there is a well designed boat ramp. Industrial sites dominate the other side of the river. Before the bridge was built a punt brought vehicles and passengers across from Newcastle.
There are many attractive historic buildings in Stockton. Here are a few examples spotted on my walk back to the Bushtracker.
This afternoon we went to a wonderful concert at Lizotte's where we caught up with several of our Aussie Road Crew friends. The main concert was by Allison Forbes, a performer we first met on an ARC tour and visited while she was working at Barkly Station in the Northern Territory. Her debut album Bonedigger has shot to number three on the ARIA country music chart.
The opening act was Brandon Dodd who has been a guitarist for Kasey Chambers for five years. Brandon has released his first album which includes a duet with Kasey who performed it with him today. Allison also had Sammy White on stage - Sammy is the 2020 Toyota Star Maker winner, formerly from Townsville now based in Newcastle.
Heavy equipment is used to fill very large sandbags. Ironically the worst erosion is next to new road construction creating parking spaces.
Erosion of Stockton Beach is not a recent phenomenon with some experts pointing to structures such as the breakwater walls changing the way waves and sand move.
From 1885 to 1908 coal was mined at Stockton in tunnels under the ocean and low lying land. There are two sandstone and marble memorials near the park dedicated to six men who died in 1896 at a furnance, and five men who died attempting to rescue their colleagues. Relics from the mine exposed during severe weather events have been used to calculate the extent of beach erosion.
Housing facing Stockton Beach is a mix of old cottages and new two storey buildings. A road separates the homes from the beach but their owners will be concerned by the extent of this recent erosion.
On the river foreshore there is a well designed boat ramp. Industrial sites dominate the other side of the river. Before the bridge was built a punt brought vehicles and passengers across from Newcastle.
There are many attractive historic buildings in Stockton. Here are a few examples spotted on my walk back to the Bushtracker.
This afternoon we went to a wonderful concert at Lizotte's where we caught up with several of our Aussie Road Crew friends. The main concert was by Allison Forbes, a performer we first met on an ARC tour and visited while she was working at Barkly Station in the Northern Territory. Her debut album Bonedigger has shot to number three on the ARIA country music chart.
The opening act was Brandon Dodd who has been a guitarist for Kasey Chambers for five years. Brandon has released his first album which includes a duet with Kasey who performed it with him today. Allison also had Sammy White on stage - Sammy is the 2020 Toyota Star Maker winner, formerly from Townsville now based in Newcastle.
